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Integrating philosophy, cognitive science, and computational methods at a polytechnic institution: Experiences of interdisciplinary course designs for critical thinking
and be involved in the accreditation process on a continuing basis, not just in the months preceding each visit. Understanding the engineering criteria is no trivial goal, however; the jargon they contain (objectives, outcomes, outcome indicators, performance targets, etc. ) is dense and confusing, and universally agreed-upon operational definitions of the terms do not yet exist. Moreover, while much has been written in the past few years about the assessment of program outcomes (more specifically, of Outcomes 3a-3k), relatively little attention has been paid so far to the central role of the individual faculty member in attaining those outcomes. The primary purpose of this paper is to examine that role. Since the new ABET accreditation system was first introduced to American engineering education in the middle 1990s as Engineering Criteria 2000, most discussion in the literature has focused on how to assess Outcomes 3a-3k and relatively little has concerned how to equip students with the skills and attitudes specified in those outcomes. This paper seeks to fill this gap. Its goals are to (1) overview the accreditation process and clarify the confusing array of terms associated with it (objectives, outcomes, outcome indicators, etc. ); (2) provide guidance on the formulation of course learning objectives and assessment methods that address Outcomes 3a-3k; (3) identify and describe instructional techniques that should effectively prepare students to achieve those outcomes by the time they graduate; and (4) propose a strategy for integrating program-level and course-level activities when designing an instructional program to meet the requirements of the ABET engineering criteria.
The Drexel E4 approach to engineering education has evolved from emphases on teamwork and course integration to include an emphasis on faculty development through the Personal and Professional Enrichment component. One of the four components of the curriculum which are described elsewhere, the Personal and Professional Enrichment Program, encompasses a short orientation course and the year long Humanities sequence. The orientation course, taught by all the team members, provides a forum for faculty as well as students to discuss personal and educational goals. It also provides faculty with a social arena which has become important in developing and maintaining the strong sense of community the team shares. The faculty have profited from talking about themselves as individuals, as much as the students who have discovered professionals as role models?concerned citizens and parents, and lifelong learners. Students are introduced to engineering as a profession that requires not only technological skills but also an awareness of ethics, of the need for lifelong learning, and of the importance of Humanities. It is important to note that the technical faculty teach the introductory course and thus themselves attest to the value of humanistic concerns throughout the entire program. Continuing the integration of goals as well as subjects, the Humanities curriculum includes the traditional sequence in reading, writing, and research skills with an emphasis on technical writing, visuals and oral presentation skills. Meritorious texts are chosen to highlight humanistic concerns about the impact of technology so that students recognize the engineers' obligation to the world we all share. By enhancing communication skills, developing an awareness of audience and expanding their imagination, students gain confidence in expressing creative and responsible attempts at solving engineering problems. 1994 American Society for Engineering Education
Engineering curricula can include the breadth and depth in the humanities and social sciences that both ABET and sound educational theory require if the general education program is organized into lower and upper divisions distributed over four years. Then during the last two years, small clusters of upper level courses built around agreed-upon themes and requirements can offer students some elective choice while providing coherence among the courses. Thus an institution can develop an alternative to both restrictive, required CORES and loose area-distribution curricula. Furthermore, by involving them in the planning, construction, implementation and governance of the clusters, faculty from outside engineering disciplines, will be engaged in the curriculum instead of being only employed in it.
The new paradigm for engineering education goes beyond the need to keep students at the cutting edge of technology and calls for a better balance in the various areas of engineering school scholarship. There is considerable concern that perpetuation of the old paradigm by engineering schools will all but assure minor roles for engineers in the future as well as difficulty in adapting to the exigencies of the fast-paced global marketplace. However, the transition from the old to the new paradigm will not be easy since many of our research-intensive universities are faced with financial pressures while the wherewithal to make the change rests mostly with those who oppose the change in the first place. This situation, coupled with the fact that there is no “one-size-fits-all” transition paradigm, represents the challenge to change. Still, a number of engineering schools have made significant changes and have developed innovative approaches in their undergraduate programs. Taken together, the proven methodologies and knowledge gained should make it possible for most engineering schools to devise revitalization programs that fit the context of their institution, its student body, faculty, and objectives. This paper argues for a study to assess the impact of the tools and methodologies developed by pace-setting engineering schools and the NSF Engineering Education Coalitions to lay the foundation for future reform initiatives.
This study is concerned with the effects of prior experience on a deceptive reasoning problem. In the first experiment the subjects (students) were presented with the problem after they had experienced its logical structure. This experience was, on the whole, ineffective in allowing subsequent insight to be gained into the problem. In the second experiment the problem was presented in “thematic” form to one group, and in abstract form to the other group. Ten out of 16 subjects solved it in the thematic group, as opposed to 2 out of 16 in the abstract group. Three hypotheses are proposed to account for this result.
The concept of representativeness and the conditions in which it can be used to explain intuitive predictions and probability judgments are discussed. Four cases of representativeness are distinguished that refer to the relations between a value and a variable; an instance and a category; a sample and a population; an effect and a cause. The principles of representativeness differ significantly from the laws of probability. In particular, specificity can increase the representativeness of an event, even though it always reduces its probability. Several studies of judgment are reported in which naive and sophisticated respondents judge a conjunction to be more probable than one of its components. Violations of the conjunction rule. P(A&B) < P(B), are observed in both between-subjects and within-subjects comparisons, with both fictitious and real-world events. The theoretical and practical implications of the conjunction fallacy are explored. (Author)
The relatively poor standing of the engineering profession in the context of professional hierarchies in Australia and the inability, in general, for the profession to attract higher proportion of women as well as high caliber of young people has been of concern to both the profession and engineering education. This paper argues that this is due to the perceptions of engineering profession as one that is of "hard hat" technical in nature and which is at odds with the realities of the world of engineering practice which requires application of broad knowledge and understanding of the human dimension of engineering enterprise. These realities are not generally reflected by the engineering curricula at Australia universities. There is an excessive emphasis focused on highly technical matters in engineering curricula which not only excludes greater technical diversity but also skills and knowledge of human affairs necessary in engineering practice. An analysis shows that despite many recommendations, over the past twenty years to expand the allocation of the engineering curriculum, in Australia, to areas of social sciences and humanities, the expansion of the non technical areas, specifically humanities and social sciences, has been slow to take anchor within the schools, departments and faculties of engineering in Australia. It is argued that this is essentially a problem of academic culture, operating within engineering schools and faculties in Australia, that is based on scientific norms derived from science and the idea of cultural change is explored.
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